The BEST episodes of American Experience season 32
Every episode of American Experience season 32, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of American Experience season 32!
Presents an absorbing look at the personalities, events and resources that have had a profound impact on the shaping of America's past and present.
#1 - The Poison Squad
Season 32 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/28/2020
By the close of the Industrial Revolution, the American food supply was tainted with frauds, fakes, and legions of new and untested chemicals, dangerously threatening the health of consumers. Based on the book by Deborah Blum, The Poison Squad tells the story of government chemist Dr. Harvey Wiley who, determined to banish these dangerous substances from dinner tables, took on the powerful food manufacturers and their allies. Wiley embarked upon a series of bold and controversial trials on 12 human subjects who would become known as the “Poison Squad.” Following Wiley’s unusual experiments and tireless advocacy, the film charts the path of the forgotten man who laid the groundwork for U.S. consumer protection laws, and ultimately the creation of the FDA.
#2 - The Man Who Tried to Feed the World
Season 32 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/21/2020
The story of the man who would not only solve India’s famine problem but would go on to lead a “Green Revolution” of worldwide agriculture programs estimated to have saved one billion lives.
#3 - The Vote (1)
Season 32 - Episode 7 - Aired 7/6/2020
One hundred years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, The Vote tells the dramatic culmination story of the hard-fought campaign waged by American women for the right to vote, a transformative cultural and political movement that resulted in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history.
#4 - Mr. Tornado
Season 32 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/19/2020
The Super Outbreak of 1974 was the most intense tornado outbreak on record, tearing a vicious path of destruction across thirteen states, generating 148 tornadoes from Alabama to Ontario, damaging thousands of homes, and killing more than 300 people. Meteorologist Tetsuya Theodore “Ted” Fujita spent ten months studying the outbreak’s aftermath in the most extensive aerial tornado study ever conducted, and through detailed mapping and leaps of scientific imagination, made a series of meteorological breakthroughs. His discovery of “microbursts,” sudden high wind patterns that could cause airplanes to drop from the sky without warning, transformed aviation safety and saved untold numbers of lives. Mr. Tornado is the remarkable story of the man whose groundbreaking work in research and applied science saved thousands of lives and helped Americans prepare for and respond to dangerous weather phenomena.
#5 - The Vote (2)
Season 32 - Episode 8 - Aired 7/7/2020
Part Two examines the mounting dispute over strategy and tactics, and reveals how the pervasive racism of the time, particularly in the South, impacted women's fight for the vote. Explore the final four years of the long and arduous road to the passage of the 19th Amendment.
#6 - McCarthy
Season 32 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/6/2020
Chronicles the rise and fall of Joseph McCarthy, the Wisconsin senator whose zealous anti-communist crusade would test the limits of American decency and democracy.
#7 - George W. Bush (2)
Season 32 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/5/2020
Part Two opens with the ensuing war in Iraq and continues through Bush's second term, as the president confronts the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina and the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression.
#8 - George W. Bush (1)
Season 32 - Episode 4 - Aired 5/4/2020
Part One chronicles Bush's unorthodox road to the White House. The once wild son of a political dynasty, few expected Bush to ascend to the presidency. Yet 36 days after the November 2000 election, Bush emerged the victor of the most hotly contested race in the nation's history. Little in the new president's past could have prepared him for the events that unfolded on September 11, 2001. Thrust into the role of war president, Bush's response to the deadly terrorist attack would come to define a new era in American foreign policy.